ad been done effectually;
for five large holes were discovered there, at a place where the bottom
of the boat rested upon the rocks so as to furnish such points of
resistance below as prevented the copper from yielding to the blows.

The officer set his men at work to attempt to repair this damage. They
first took out the sand and stones and iron with which the boat was
encumbered, and then raising her, they dragged her up out of the water
to the landing. Here the men lifted her up upon her side, and began to
beat back the indentations which had been made in the metal, by holding
a heavy sledge hammer on the inside, to serve as an anvil, and then
striking with a hand-hammer upon the protuberances on the outside. In
the same manner they beat back the burrs or protrusions formed where the
holes had been punched through the bottom of the boat, and they found,
much to their satisfaction, that when the metal was thus brought back
into its place the holes were closed again, and the boat became whole
and tight as before.

When this work was done the men put the boat back again in her proper
position, replaced and fastened the seats, and then launched her into
the water. They found her stanch and tight, and seemingly as good as
new. The whole work of repairing her did not occupy more than one
hour--much less time, the officer thought, than had been spent in the
attempt to destroy her.

The boat thus restored was immediately put to service and she performed
the work required of her, admirably well. She was often out on the open
sea in very rough weather, but always rode over the billows in safety,
and in the end proved to be the strongest, swiftest, and safest boat in
the gulf squadron.

The _surf_-boats, made in this way, will ride safely in any sea--and
though sometimes after protracted storms, the surges roll in upon
shelving or rocky shores with such terrific violence that it is
impossible to get the boats off from the land, yet once off, they are
safe, however wild the commotion. In fact there is a certain charm in
the graceful and life-like buoyancy with which they ride over the
billows, and in the confidence and sense of security which they inspire
in the hearts of those whom they bear, as they go bounding over the
crests of the waves, that it awakens in minds of a certain class, a high
exhilaration and pleasure, to go out in them upon stormy and tempestuous
seas. To illustrate the nature of the scenes through which s